dynamicnurse

This book is called Taming the Tiger, and is a supposed real life account of its author Tony Anthony. Published by Authentic in 2004, it has been reprinted on numerous occasions over the years until its most recent in this form in 2008. I cannot comment on its RRP, as I bought it in a charity shop for about £1 and there is no price actually printed on the outer back cover (or anywhere else in the book for that matter) and so therefore I can only assume that this is so that the retailer can sell it for their own price. It is a Christian book, but these days many non-Christian book sellers and other such retailers are selling many religious lines in them now.
The book has got 245 pages, and it is split in to sixteen chapters with an introduction and an after thought. Any Bible passages are taken from the New International Version of the Bible, as is said at the front of the book. Its ISBN number by the way, is 978-1-86024-706-4.
And now that the boring bit is done, I can get on a little bit more about the actual item in question! Tony Anthony was born in London to a Chinese mother (who was also born in China but moved to the UK) and an Italian father (but who was actually born and raised in the UK to Italian parents), and was an only child. His mother came from quite a highly respected yet highly revered Chinese family, and her son was the first male to be born on her side of the family since her father which was important as we shall soon see.
But as both sides of his ...

This book is entitled Wrinklies’ Wit and Wisdom, and has a sub heading of Humorous Quotes About Getting on a Bit. It is written by a lady called Rosemarie Jarski, who has also written another two or three books (at least according to the inner pages on this particular book) that includes Wisecracks - Great lines from the classic Hollywood movies.
This particular edition has been published as a hardback copy, and was published by Prion (under Carlton Publishing Group) in 2005. It has some 272 pages which includes an index, and looks at the various quotes that those people of a ‘certain age’ have made. And in case you were wondering, the index pages are there in order to help you find a quote by a certain person that has been included within these pages.
Over the course of the majority of this particular book, quotes have been included by ‘real people’ - the others are made up, and include quotes from people in the Simpsons; The Golden Girls; characters from Victoria Wood, and so on.
But those people who have also actually been included are people such as Mark Twain; Joan Rivers; Bob Monkhouse; Terry Wogan, and various people from the Royal Family (including their aides and so on) - all hoping to impart some of their apparent wisdom from down the years.
Within the pages of this book, some of the following areas of interest have been included. And for an idea of what to expect from it, I have also included at least one quote from that particular area.
Secrets ...

For those of you who have read one of my last reviews regarding my brother and his mental health issues, one of the ways in which he at one time used to be able to deal with the situation was through the very severe use of alcohol. It was not just one of those binge drink type affairs, but it was a long battle actually against alcoholism – as we shall soon see.
The general terms that I have found to describe alcoholism online is that it is a general term to describe an individual who has issues with alcohol, who has a compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcohol. This is not a term that is used to describe those people on a night out who just keep on drinking until they have had enough, but this is a term that is used to describe those people for whom on the whole having an alcoholic drink will be the first thing they think about doing when they wake up in the morning.
For a while this was a huge problem for my brother, which of course then impacted on the rest of the wider family also. Unbeknown to us at the time that although he was working, he had to have a drink before going to get his head around what had been happening to him (and as he had not yet told anyone of this then drink was the only way out). He also went out to drink on his break periods, and then again after work – but at the time, he classed this as being a drink with his work colleagues to unwind which most do and nothing is ever thought of it.
In time, he was found out when someone from his ...

For those of you who don’t know of it, then Barnstaple is an average sized (yet expanding) market town in North Devon. It is the base for the North Devon District Council; the local main hospital, and is nearly at the mouth of two rivers (the Taw and the Torridge).
In years gone by, Barnstaple was quite difficult to get around – especially if you didn’t know it that well, or you never really paid much attention as many of the signposts for drivers can be quite confusing at times. I have driven around the town myself on many an occasion, and I often know a lot of the shortcuts. But one day I decided to follow the signposts, and was so glad that I knew of the shortcuts because the ways in which I was being taken were so random it was almost beyond a joke – yet, I guess that this is the case in many areas these days.
However there is now a really good ring road system in place, and the directions upon approaching the various parts of the town are a lot more clearer than what they used to be. There is also a new bridge linking the outer areas of the town across the river, which has been helpful in also trying to reduce the amount of traffic that goes directly in to the actual town in itself.
In terms of other ways in which to travel, Barnstaple Town Council has actually in fact improved things greatly (and not just in terms of what I have already talked about). They are quite hot on ‘car sharing’ where people go to work in just one car rather than a large number of ...

I have a brother who over the years has suffered very badly with mental health issues, to the point that following a failed suicide bid he was then diagnosed with having had bi-polar disorder (manic depression) for most of his adult life. This is going to be a very difficult review for me to write, but I do so hope that it is going to be of some help to one or two people.
This particular brother is ten years older than me (my other brother being two years older than him again so twelve years older than me), and about ten years ago he had just lost his third job in a row whilst being in south Wales and had moved back to live with our parents in Plymouth. The reason for him having lost his job was because he had been drinking heavily, both in and out of work hours – but no-one seemed to know why, as he had been in very well paid jobs; he had a flat of his own which he shared with his then fiancé, and live if general seemed to have been going in his favour.
But after a short time of being back at home following splitting from his fiancé, he was to be found on his way to the top of a local multi story car park – enough said. However with a lot of after care and suchlike, the reasons behind his erratic behaviours where then understood – but this is of no concern to anyone on here, for this is his own personal business (he doesn’t mind me sharing this much so far). His actions from the past few years where recognised as having been a kick against what had happened to him, ...

I am currently living in a Christian community with around one hundred or so different people, and who all come from around twenty different countries. And so therefore, I would just like to think that I am in a very good position in order to be able to talk about living amongst some very different cultures.
I have found that there are many pros and cons of doing this, even more so than my many times of having travelled to other countries. This is mainly because I think owing to the fact that I have of course in the past travelled to other countries and gotten to know people who are living in their own particular environment, however in this instance it is people who are coming to this country to live from abroad - therefore, they are in some ways having to get used to living in my own particular environment.
One thing that I do enjoy is learning about the cultures and ways of living of other countries, and I will try and respect some of their own particular ways of doing things. For example we have a number of people who are currently living here on community who are from various Asian countries, and to them it is considered to be very disrepectful to them to show the bottom of you feet to them - whether it be from crossing your legs, or just simply sitting back with your feet stretched out in front of you.
And so therefore, I will always try not to do this if I am in their company - I know that I muck up on occasions, and they will tell me about this! I don't ...

Having been on both the receiving end and the calling end of spam and junk callers or whatever else you want to call them, I would just like to write my own personal experiences of the Telephone Preference System (or the TPS as it is now called for the purposes of the rest of my review).
The TPS is a system that allows you to supposedly take your number off the general telephone database, that will then result in you not getting any bogus calls from call centres; businesses and the like, as they cannot get hold of your number. This is not however to be confused with the ex-directory service, which means that nobody (regardless of whether it is a personal number or a business number) will be able to find your number at all through any meand - paper phone books, or on the phone or online through directory enquiries.
But by registering your number on the TPS, this means that you have specifically asked for no 'cold callers' to get in touch with you in order to try and sell you something over the phone. It is a free service, and can be done online at the TPS website (www.tpsonline.org.uk) and I do believe that you can also call them - but this number escapes me at the moment!
I have to say that the website does also state that it takes up to 28 days for this action to occur, however I am still not convinced that it works all the time - for reasons that I shall now go in to.
You see, I have registered with the TPS in the past and all seemed to go well for a few ...

I am currently working in a general housekeeping role, which for those of you who know me will therefore know that it is somewhat different from my previous line of work in the health care profession. But I have in the last three months or so left Plymouth to go and work in North Devon, in a Christian conference and retreat centre as a part of the housekeeping team.
For this particular role, I have to carry out many different duties - many of which a lot of other people would run a mile at even the thought of doing them, but many of the tasks I do are ones that I was so used to doing in my previous working roles. I am having to make beds; clean toilets; wash out showers or baths; hoover, and help to keep up the general cleanliness of the centre for the guests who are staying here to feel relaxed and at home.
This role is not well paid (it is minimum wage), but my accomodation and food are provided for me free of charge (although I can of course buy some bits of my own food if I so wish to). I work at least forty hours a week which is a constant busy time as I along with the other members of my team are always on the go, but it is a job that I enjoy as I do get to meet a very wide variety of people.
But not everyone will get this, as housekeepers can be found in many different places, including those places where they will meet no other people besides those that they work with because of the hours that they are working. However I feel that in this day and age and ...

Normally being a drinker of something slightly stronger in the past, I came across Shandy Bass recently which according to the outside of the can is no than 0.5% volume in terms of alcohol content – which means that you can safely drink it in front of your tea total grandparents!
I must state what would appear to be a contradiction in terms however as on the side of the can, it does also state that it is a lemon flavour soft drink with 8% beer with sugar and sweetener – I am confused now, so won’t go there. But even though it has this supposed low content of alcohol in it, one assumes that it will still not be allowed to be bought by those people who are under age.
Coming in at 330 mls, it is made by Britvic and claims to be made with real Bass beer – not sure, as the ingredients list seems to say otherwise. I shall however be looking at that in due course, which will of course be of some interest to people no doubt.
The can as I have already said is a 330 ml can, and it is very easy to spot as it is blue all over. It is the usual sort of drinks can that can be recycled after use, and has a ring pull on the top of it. I bought it for the pricely sum of thirty English pennies in what now must be one of the most famous corner shops in this part of the world, but it will cost different prices depending on where you bought it. I admire the packaging style, as it is quite plain and simple – yet because of this, it does really stand out well from a lot of the others. ...

The Three Trees is an Easter based story, and is a traditional American fairytale that in this particular version has been retold by Angela Elwell Hunt with illustrations by Tim Jonke. As it is an overtly Easter based story, it is therefore safe to say that this is a Christian book. However it is not just based on the Easter story in itself though, for reasons that I shall try and undercover in a short while.
I have recently bought it for £3.99 on Amazon, although on closer inspection just now this price has gone down to £3.74 – I have not really seen it for sale that much in many high street shops, but you may just be lucky.
Without wishing to give too much of the story away, as the name suggests it is about three trees. They do not really feel very worthy of anything or up to much use to anyone, as they are just stood there in a forest growing. However over a period of time, each one of the trees are cut down – one to make the manger that held Jesus when He was born (although it was of course not originally intended for that as it was only really made as a feed box for animals); the second to make a boat that Jesus used in which to preach from after having slept in it and calmed the storm whilst being stood in it, and the third to make the cross on which He died.
I do realise that I have given you a little bit too much possibly of the story, but in reality the majority of the story is made up in the descriptions of what happened and the pictures that go with it. ...

Ubuntu Coca Cola is of course as the name would suggest but with a difference - it is actually Fairtrade Coca Cola. The word Ubuntu means 'I am because we are, and it is a trading company that is based in London (at least that is where their contact details would suggest from the side of the can). And the reason that Ubuntu is Fairtrade certified is because the ingredients that are used are mainly of Fairtrade origin, and they are a supporter of projects in Malawi which are done though the Fairtrade programme.
But anyway, enough about thehir background and on with the show my friends!
The drink is 330 mls in total, and it comes in the usual circular shaped aluminium can that you would normally expect to see one of the many fizzy drinks being produced in. However unlike many of the other drinks that are of similar standing, this particular one comes in a simple white format.
On the front of the can is the name of the drink, and a few bubbles that appear to be rising up to the Fairtrade symbol. The rest of the can gives us all of the usual information, such as the ingredients list (which appear in about five or six different languages); a nutritionaly breakdown; a small description of the product, and details on how to contact the company.
For those of you who are interested in it, the ingredients list is as follows (and this has been taken from the side of the can): carbonated water; fairtrade sugar; sulphate ammonia caramel e150d; phosphoris acid; potassium ...

Walkabout is situated in Plymouth, in the infamous area known only as Union Street – which is of course, club land. However, Walkabout is situated just to one side of it – away from the main clubs, but close enough for it to still be of some problem to the area for reasons that I shall soon explain to you. It is an Australian bar, and the majority of the staff have been ‘bought over’ from Australia in order to work here – they have the usual friendly Australian outlook on life, which seems to bode well with those who go in there. I do believe that Walkabout is a part of a national chain, and that there are other such Walkabout clubs in other parts of the country. However it has to be said that this review is on my own experience of this particular outlet, and so therefore any comparisons or differences are purely by chance.
This particular club is by Plymouth’s standards at least a little different, in that it opens almost as a pub style affair at twelve noon for people to go in and have a drink (either soft such as hot or cold drinks) and alcoholic drinks; food, or just simply to have somewhere to sit for a little while which they seem to be OK with provided that it is not too busy.
One thing to say about their prices is that they seem to be pretty average, with things such as pints of beer (or suchlike) being around the £3 mark on average; food costing anywhere between five and ten pounds, and soft drinks costing around two pounds (dependant of course of what it is ...

Tarka Springs Sparkling Water is a carbonated drink, that was originally bottled at source in a natural spring in Devon. Tarka Country is where it comes from, and is so called because of the original book entitled Tarka the Otter which was written and based in the area of Northe Devon that surrounds Exmoor.
As already pointed out, this is a carbonated drink - therefore it is sparkling (fizzy), and can give you great discomfort if you burp almost immediately after having a mouthful because of the amount of bubbles that will go up through your nose! However it is also worth pointing out that there is a non-fizzy version of this drink too, but that is not the purposes of the review.
The bottle itself is a clear one, and the only packaging is the label that sits around the centre point of it. It is a mixture of white and pale green, with the writing in bold or normal green print - the screw lid is also green in colour. On the label is the name of the water; a small description of it; the quantity (which is of course the normal 500 ml bottle); contact details of the firm that has originally produced it; a picture of an otter (presumably its namesake), and a list of the typical water analysis per litre. I have to admit that this is the first time that I have not seen an actual ingredients list as such on a bottle of water, but I do not know the reasoning behind this.
As already noted previously, this particular bottle is a 500 ml bottle - I must note however, that I ...

Although the product that I am going to be reviewing is still known as Guinness Original, it has to be said that I admit I am going to actually in fact be reviewing something that is in fact a little different to the picture that Ciao has put on here. And so therefore what I am actually going to be reviewing is the glass bottle version, which comes as a 500 ml version.
Without really wishing to give you all lovely people too much of something that you do so of course know already, Guinness is in fact a stout that has been produced for the last two hundred years or so. And one of the things that I personally have known this particular drink to be quite well known for is its high quantity of iron which many people need in order to be able to boost up certain parts of their metabolism, and so therefore if there are no underlying reasons as to why they are not able to then this is a good drink that is encouraged for both by and towards many people.
This particular drink comes in most usual and bulk standard of all bottled drinks, with the bottle being the usual shape as per all drinks that are sold in this particular fashion. I realise that the drink in itself is a very dark or cloudy drink anyway, but the actual bottle in itself is a very dark coloured glass – thus, it makes sure that what is in fact in it is well concealed. And personally I feel that the smell of the drink is not really all that over powering, which in this day and age is quite something.
The bottle ...

In the past, my taste levels of ginger beer only really went to a supermarket own brand. However recently, a friend introduced me to Fentimans Traditional Ginger Beer and I have also since found it in my local shop and I have now had the odd bottle or six of it and I have really enjoyed it. Claiming to be botanically brewed, it started to be made in 1905 by the Fentimans family and they are at this based in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Judging by the blurb on the label of it, the reason that it has been botanically brewed is because of their claims to using (and I quote) ‘the best milled roots; finest herbs, and natural flavourings in our draughts’ (and this quote has been taken from the label). When you first take a swig from the bottle, you don’t really get all that much of the taste. However, after a small matter of seconds come the after taste – which can be quite strong if you are not yet quite expecting it, as the taste of the ginger really does come through.
The ingredients list is as follows: fermented ginger root extract; carbonated water; sugar; glucose syrup; natural flavourings (ginger; capsicum; lemon; speedwell; juniper; yarrow); cream of tartar, and citric acid. There are however no dietary notes on the side of the bottle, and so therefore I cannot really make any assumptions as to who can or cannot partake of this totally wonderful beverage.
The drink comes in a brown glass bottle which of course can be recycled, and its net volume as printed on the side ...